Asobi ni Iku yo! – 01

For a science fiction series, I probably should have mentioned back in the season preview that there’s more to this one than a beautiful alien catgirl falling into the lap of our unassuming male protagonist Kakazu Kio (Tamura Mutsumi). While that’s more or less how things begin, there are government agencies aware of the existence of extraterrestrials and illegal organizations bent on having their own way as well, making things extend beyond a simple harem series. The pattern generally seen in harems is a lighthearted fan-service-filled progression for the majority of the series before concluding around some conflict that comes up in the last few episodes. Here, it’s a bit different since problems arise almost immediately upon Elice‘s (Itou Kanae) arrival.

The fan-service was prevalent as expected, but Kio’s childhood friend Kinjou Manami (Tomatsu Haruka) has already begun spying on Elice and reporting her findings back to the CIA. Her father happens to be a real CIA agent and she’s aspiring to become one, hence her whole semi-amateurish attempt to prove herself. Incidentally, she also happens to be a gun fanatic of sorts and possesses a complete arsenal of weaponry in her very room. Upon seeing her covert op, I was somewhat surprised to see Kio’s own childhood friend more or less sell him out, but what’s even more alarming is his teacher/club advisor Itokazu Maki (Hirata Hiromi), who’s a member of some organization called “Beautiful Contact”. Judging from her online interactions with the other members, their purpose seems to be disposing aliens deemed too unsightly to be recorded in history as humanity’s first contact with another race. She immediately reports that Elice’s “Cathia” race as unfit due to how she speaks fluent Japanese, which is a dumb reason that they’re actually serious about it, as seen by the firearms they’re packing to get rid of her. Given their objective, Beautiful Contact seems like a zealous cult more than anything else.

To further compound problems, there’s Kio’s classmate Futaba Aoi (Hanazawa Kana), who seems to have romantic feelings for him but is actually a member of the special branch of the Japanese immigration office. She possesses the unique ability to warp in weaponry as needed and is dispatched on missions that range from dealing with oversea smugglers (as seen in the action-packedopeningscenes) to eliminating alien threats and those who harbor them. What’s more, she’s like a completely different person when it comes to business, so much that she’ll scare the crap out of her messenger for making remarks about her and Kio. She apparently has the uncanny ability to come out of any situation alive and unscathed too, earning her the nickname “Akuuon Momiji” 「悪運紅葉」 that’s feared by many. “Akuuon” means “bad luck” (for those who cross her path), whereas “Momiji” describes the color of leaves changing in fall (like being dyed in blood I suppose). Her latest assignment turns out to be Elice and Kio, which puts her in a clearly difficult predicament. So with that, Kio is up against three different parties that he’s completely oblivious about at the moment.

Looking back, it’s surprisingly how much was revealed in the very first episode right after Elice’s arrival to study Earth, but it was a nice change from what I’m normally accustomed to given the series’ premise. I originally compared this series to Sora no Otoshimono (which is getting a sequel this fall by the way) and still feel that it has some similarities. One notable difference is that things pick up very quickly here in comparison, with a lot of the main characters such as Aoi and Manami at odds with Kio to start. It’s very reminiscent of Nymph‘s situation, whose seiyuu Nomizu Iori plays Elice’s spaceship’s AI, Rulos, as well as a yet to be introduced character named Antonia. Another difference is that there’s a lot happening concurrently, so much that some of the details I pointed out above were only hinted at. As such, I couldn’t help but wonder if this rampant pacing is intentional, especially considering how there are still a bunch of characters to be introduced — including aliens from other planets — and it’s been said that this adaptation will only be 13 episodes long.

I question how well the story will turn out at this point, but given all the action I wasn’t expecting, the inclusion of multiple organizations out to capture or dispose of aliens, and the absolutely beautiful character designs and animation by AIC PLUS+, I’m seeing this one through to the end like I was planning. The cast is chock-full of a lot of my favorite seiyuu, plus it looks like they’re cycling character songs for the ending themes. The first one is Aoi’s, which is a pretty good song by Hanazawa Kana, though I doubt anything will live up to popularity of “Renai Circulation” in Bakemonogatari. Heroine-wise, Itou Kanae is fresh off of Mayoi Neko Overrun and back in another cat related series, bringing along another really cute voice for Elice. Horie Yui and Inoue Kikuko from the “forever 17 year-old club” make appearances as well, in addition to the other three members of seiyuu group sphere — Toyosaki Aki, Kotobuki Minako, Takagaki Ayahi — who perform the opening theme that wasn’t included in this premiere episode.

Overall, this series is right up my alley as something I can sit back and enjoy, but it’s not one I can make a recommendation about until I know how it turns out. Much like I indicated in the Summer 2010 Schedule, this is another show I plan on watching this season but won’t be covering in my ongoing attempt to cut back on the number of shows I blog. Crunchyroll has secured rights to simulcast it, but it won’t be starting until July 15th — five days after the earliest television broadcast.

For a show that has a lot of women with big (even huge) breasts, Futaba Aoi is still a strong contender. She doesn’t have a lot “up front”, but she seems like she could relate the most with him (I’m also hoping she turns out to be a good person in the end).

dude, breast those sizes do exist =P and some are even bigger, a friend of mine has more or less that much of breast and she is tottaly hot, though i dont want to imagine her in 30 years lol, breast that big tend to drop really low

There is a lot of story potential. I was amazed of all the back bone potential story behind it. I would have not expected it from an anime with a title like this one. But i hope it doesnt turn out a joke like Mayoi Neko Overrun or Ichiban Ushiro no Daimao

Hanazawa Kana <333 I could just listen to her voice forever lol
This series interests me and was on my check list. Just hoping it's not going to turn out completely confusing story wise. Can't wait for SnO s2 this fall, I miss my angels.

With common concepts aside XD, this introduction for this series has me curious in terms on what kind of story/plot shall unfold in upcoming 13 episodes. The animation looks very well done and this series gave me a few fun moments about ToLoveRU dues to similiarities with a few scenes and Seiyuus =D

AIC is bringing out quite a few good productions this summer and I will enjoy watching their work during this season :) I will most likely keep on watching this as best as I can as long as there is a decent group out there that will sub it. If not, I guess it is going to be a lot of RAW downloads lol

On another note, it appears that Tachibana Kanade as Reincarnated into Futaba Aoi and brought her knowledge of the “Angel Player” with her -_^

Different start from what i expected from the name, but i’m guessing it will morph into a typical harem anime mid stream then into a more serious flow late series. I like how Aoi was completely emotionless in speech when intimidating the driver (who deserved it). So far the least interesting character is surprisingly the alien.

Man… This just like watching Sekirei, Ikkitousen or Tenjou tenge.
seriously i always feel disturbed with THAT Gigantic Breasts because It will Sag So hard when the main chara become old LOL :)and those anime creators seems have big breasts fetish when they decided to create chara with oversized breasts.
But I guess i will try this one and give a shots for three episodes before decide to drop it

I am not into the cat ear stuff, and will most likely pass the remaining episodes for this one. After watching Durarara, it is hard to be surprised by this cheap version of everyone-is-an-undercover-big-shot kind of plot. With that said, I do feel kind of sorry for the clueless guy.

I didn’t watch any of the neko-related shows last season. They just didn’t appeal to me. But THIS show! This, I have to watch. She looks like Horo! I can’t pass that up. XD -still waiting for Spice and Wolf season 3- Plus the artwork looks dazzling..!

I’d have to agree with Divine’s comment:
“I question how well the story will turn out at this point, but given all the action I wasn’t expecting, the inclusion of multiple organizations out to capture or dispose of aliens, and the absolutely beautiful character designs and animation by AIC PLUS+, I’m seeing this one through to the end”
It’s nice that for once, what seems like ‘just another harem anime’ turns out to have the makings for a decent story, and even a little action (I’m an ‘awesome overmark fight scene’ fan).

Finally got a chance to watch the first episode and all I can say is wow, this is definitely not what I was expecting; and I mean that in a good way. I thought this would be your usual fantasy harem anime but it’s far from it it seems lol. I wonder how far they’ll take this underground/occult race for Eris and Kio, because I can really see myself enjoying this if they’re serious about it, which they seem to be. Basically, my first impression of this is that it’s a Black Lagoon-type anime wrapped in an eroge harem romance package on the surface. I hope they keep it up.